


A Friend in Need

by wonderlandiscrumbling



Category: Child's Play/Chucky (Movies), Gotham (TV)
Genre: Buddi doll, Comfort, Ed doesn't have friends, Ed's lonely, Ed's still new at his job, Gen, M/M, Past Abuse, Takes place after the end of Child's Play 2019, Time Skips, a few anyway, before season one, short fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-18
Updated: 2019-07-27
Packaged: 2020-07-08 05:28:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19864264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wonderlandiscrumbling/pseuds/wonderlandiscrumbling
Summary: Ed likes to search through the dumpsters of big box electronic stores to see what could be salvageable. He comes upon a Buddi doll thrown in the dumpster, curious as to why somebody would rough up and then dispose of the robotic toy he takes it home determined to restore it or at least keep it as decoration.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I wondered out of Gotham characters and just Batman villains in general which was the most likely to befriend Chucky from the 2019 remake and honestly Ed seemed the most likely due to Riddler's love of tech and robots along with season one Ed's longing to have a friend and somebody to just talk to.

Ed had seen the police cars and ambulances gathered downtown, being that it was Gotham city he hadn’t put much thought into all the commotion. Bad things happened; unusual things occurred often, one tended to become jaded to it all. He of course always pertained a certain curiosity about matters in the city, but he assumed this was nothing. He’d waited some time for the vehicles to disperse and tape to be placed around the large store before slipping under the yellow caution tape and making his way towards the dumpster. He threw the heavy lid back, sat his duffel bag on the pavement and hoisted himself up, he groaned as he tried to carefully pull himself into the mostly full dumpster, but ended up losing his footing on the rain slicked metal surface and falling inside landing on boxes and bits of metal. 

“Crud”

He moved into a kneeling position and began sifting through garbage. If anybody from the station caught him, they would just have another reason to mock him, he prayed nobody was lingering and that nobody would return. They wouldn’t care or understand if he went on to explain himself to them, it would just be another story on the ‘Ed’s a freak’ pile they’d been creating ever since he’d started working the forensics department. 

He grabbed wires, cores that were still in mostly good condition as well as discarded chips. He’d found a long time ago that most things could be useful. Ever since the Buddi dolls had been released a year ago he noticed many people and stores trashing the returned or defective ones, never realizing these dolls and bears held rather advanced technology that could be salvaged and used to make other much neater gadgets. He himself hadn’t made anything fool proof yet, but he had blueprints and sketches of weapons and drones he wanted to make once he got all the pieces together. He pocketed the chips he found, anything else he tossed out of the dumpster to be shoved into his bag with his other finds from the dumpster outside of Best Buy. As he dug into the endless pile of garbage, he uncovered something new. An eye peered up at him, lifeless and glossy, reflecting the moon above. He pushed items aside grinning as he realized what he’d found as he uncovered a doll’s face, its red hair matted and dirty. Carefully he pulled it from its trash grave and held it up to get a better look at it under the streetlight. 

The robotic doll’s blue jumpsuit was torn as well as the colorful striped shirt underneath exposing its metal exoskeleton, he caught a glimpse of the blue core. The face of the doll was mostly intact, some wear in the thick plastic, a long cut as if somebody had taken a knife to its face, its mouth hung open exposing a top and bottom row of little white teeth. He pulled the robot close again almost cradling it against his chest as he tapped his fingers rhythmically against the back.

“I have parts, perhaps enough to piece you back together again.” He said laughing to himself.

He cradled the doll in one arm as he carefully hiked his leg over the edge of the dumpster, he gripped the ledge with both hands doing better getting out than he had getting in. Still his legs felt sore and he knew his back would hurt in the morning, he figured a nice bath might help, but only after he got to work on his little project. He grabbed up the tools and pieces he’d thrown onto the ground stuffing them into his bag along with the Buddi doll he’d discovered.

As Ed made his way out of the alley and to the sidewalk heading towards his apartment, he wondered why somebody would discard the doll in the dumpster. He thought perhaps it was an unwanted gift for a spoiled child, he would have adored something like this when he’d been a kid. He’d had board games, Nintendo games, books, and some GI Joes, but this…. This was something quite incredible. A robotic doll, designed to move on its own accord, facial recognition that allowed it to imprint upon its owner, and learn from them the same way a child might learn from a parent. These robots could be connected to technology around the house, it could potentially just be a very strange looking Amazon Echo if one wished. Ed knew if he couldn’t restore it to perfection that he’d keep it, he’d sit it on a shelf or perhaps set it upon his dresser. If he could restore it then he could count this as sheer success, if he had friends then he would brag to them, show them how good his repair skills were, but alas he would be the only one impressed by his successes.

When he reached his building, he was quick making his way upstairs humming happily to himself, he finally had a worthy project that wouldn’t sit unfinished for months on end. 

He fished the key from his pocket, unlocked the door, slipped inside and relocked the door behind him. He went to the table that sat near the kitchen, meant for eating, but mostly meant for his projects and research. He dumped the contents of his duffle bag onto the table then retrieved his box of tools and spare parts from the closet returning to the table. The doll lay there staring up with lifeless eyes that appeared inky black but, in the light, he could see the faint blue of them.

“Don’t worry little guy, I’ll get you fixed up.” He said as if assuring his worried patient, he chuckled to himself before getting started.


	2. Chapter 2

Ed felt anxious as he re-dressed the doll, the tears in its clothes now sewn up. He took a step back and looked at the doll, it looked practically brand new. He’d even managed to clean the dirt and debris from its thick orange hair, now was the true test. He began the steps of activating it, jumping back when the doll’s head jerked back its eyes going from that inky pool of blackness to a vibrant blue then flickering to red before settling back on blue. The robot tilted its head to the side, a buzzing sound filled the apartment hurting his ears for the three seconds until it ceased. 

“Are you my new friend?” The robot asked, the voice was childish yet robotic lying somewhere between too human and quite mechanical. A smile formed as it stared up at him waiting for a response.

Ed grinned at it just proud of himself for being able to restore the robot. Something about it still felt off, but if it had been tossed out for possible malfunctions then he didn’t expect perfection, he was thrilled it was talking at all. He clapped his hands together and nodded, “Yes I am.”

“What’s your name?” It asked still staring up at him expectantly.

“Ed”

He’d seen on the commercials the robots could be named; it was something he hadn’t thought about until right now. 

“I’m Chucky” 

Pre-named, not completely unusual he reminded himself. If somebody else owned it previously then all the information from that time would still be in the cloud, information that couldn’t be permanently deleted unless one wanted to deal with a customer service hotline for a good hour or two, and he truly didn’t want to bother with that. 

“It’s very nice to meet you then, Chucky.” 

Ed seated himself in his chair again, he watched with fascination as the robot turned away from him and walked around the table studying its surroundings, memorizing them. Chucky’s movements were the slightest bit stiff, head occasionally twitching as he looked at things. Finally, after a minute he returned to Ed sitting down on the edge of the table, hands folded in his lap as he looked at his new owner. 

As strange as the robots appeared and as daunting as new technological advances were, Ed had to admit there was something incredibly neat and endearing about this robot. As a kid he’d imagined having a robot friend or a robotic dog in place of the real dog his father would have never get for him, now at twenty-five he had a robotic doll. He only knew a handful of things about them from the commercials, but enough to know his new friend should be low maintenance and quite loyal.

“What do you think of your new home?” 

“It’s very nice, it sort of reminds me of my last home.” Chucky responded.

He did have a rather burning curiosity about the robot’s last home, he almost wondered if his owners lived in this building. Then again there were countless apartments in Gotham city, it could be any one of these.

“Do you remember what happened?” He asked curiously.

The robot was quiet its eyes flashing red for a moment, it slowly nodded its head. “I don’t like remembering that.” 

“That’s fine….I have things I don’t like remembering either.” He said smiling softly, he patted the doll’s head in reassurance.

He imagined things hadn’t been great; he figured the robot was a birthday gift for a child, not the right hair color, not the right model, or just not the ideal gift all together. Maybe a week or two of pretending to enjoy the doll, mistreating it, and then finally tossing it into the dumpster after school. Typical things that children did; he wouldn’t press though. 

Ed got up from his seat, he carefully picked Chucky up and placed him down on the floor. The robot stared up at him. “It’s okay, this is your home now, you can look around.” 

He watched as Chucky began walking towards the connected living room. Technically Ed’s apartment was just one large space; bed on one side near the front door, a small table near the kitchenette, off to the side was a small bathroom, next to that was a small living room set up that was comprised of a couch he’d bought at a yard sale along with a small gaming set up, and near that was a closet. The apartment worked well for him, living alone, and spending more time at the GCPD than anything he didn’t care too much about the setup of things. He never had to worry about guests or bringing dates home. 

Chucky seemed to like the apartment or at least wasn’t complaining, he wasn’t quite sure robots could make complaints, or at least these ones couldn’t. 

The robot walked towards the closet stopping to stare at it. Ed walked up behind him. Chucky pointed at it, he turned his head to look back at Ed. “I don’t want to go in the closet.” 

Ed furrowed his brow, he crouched down placing a hand on the doll’s shoulder. “You don’t have to, that’s only for my coats, and jackets. Promise.” 

“Promise?”

Ed nodded, “Yeah, promise. No small spaces or anything like that, I figure you can just share the bed with me…..I mean you don’t sleep….But still, rest mode or whatever you do.”

He wasn’t entirely sure what they did, what this one did. He now knew though that it at one point had been kept in a closet, that didn’t surprise him. It did intrigue him though that Chucky seemed frightened by the closet, he assumed in a sense these robots were programmed to almost be like small children. They learned from their owners and the environment, they could simulate a wide range of emotions, and fear was an emotion. 

The doll smiled turning away from the closet seeming to forget about it now. “I like that idea better; I want to stay close to my friend.” 

“Neat, well now that we’re acquainted and have that settled….I need to shower, then we can get to bed.” 

He got back up and made his way towards the bathroom, he looked behind him to see Chucky standing behind him watching him with those wide curious blue eyes, he smiled down at the robot who smiled back at him. He had to admit this was incredibly neat.


	3. Chapter 3

When Ed exited the bathroom after showering and dressing into his sleep wear, he found Chucky sat on the floor not too far from the door staring up at him.

“Hello there, were you waiting for me?” 

The doll got to its feet, “I wanted to be here just to know you’re safe.” He explained.

Ed chuckled, he knelt patting his head. “That is quite kind of you.” 

“Really?” He asked seemingly surprised by the response.

“Yeah, very devoted in a sense.” 

He wondered if this was common in their programming, he supposed that it had to be.

“Andy didn’t like me waiting for him.” 

Andy, so at least now he knew the name of the robot’s last owner. 

“Well I don’t mind it, but you don’t have to worry about me I’m generally alright.” He said getting back to his feet.

As dangerous as Gotham could be Ed rarely found himself getting into trouble, just wrapped up in his own head and his hallucinations mostly. 

He held his hand out for Chucky to take, the robot hesitated for a second before placing its small hand in his allowing him to lead him towards the bed. Ed picked him up setting him on the foot of the bed before climbing up onto it himself. Chucky sat down and watched him, again he noticed the flashing color change in the robot’s eyes and at this point he wondered if he was just seeing things, it was possible.

“Ed, you are my buddy, aren’t you?” The doll asked, glowing blue eyes fixed on him.

“Of course, why would you ask that?”

There was silence as the doll patted the space beside it on the bed as if fidgeting were a nervous habit it had picked up at some point.

“My last buddy stopped liking me, I just want to make sure you still like me.”

“I promise that I do, in fact you’re my first real friend.” He admitted.

Chucky smiled looking up at him as if that fact made a grand difference in his mood.

It was true that Chucky was his first actual friend in some regard, it was a saddening fact. In school he’d been an outcast as a child, as a teenager with his situation it had been near impossible to get close to others, and now in his twenties he found people just found him strange and didn’t want much at all to do with him. 

“Friends til the end?”

Ed nodded smiling at him, “Until the end” 

He wondered how long these dolls did last for, they were marketing wise typically aimed towards children, but on the flip side they were advertised as a great Alexa device for adults. He imagined they were built to last for quite a few years and even after that time was up Ed was certain he could find the parts and means to either upgrade him to last beyond that. 

When he laid down to finally go to sleep Chucky got up moving to sit in front of him, glowing eyes piercing in the dark apartment as he watched him. 

“Do you want to hear the buddi song?”

Ed laughed, “Sure”

He listened as the doll softly sang through its song, a moment later he felt as Chucky patted his head like he’d done to the doll earlier.

“Good night Ed”

“Good night Chucky” 

As he fell asleep he knew Chucky was still watching him intently.


	4. Chapter 4

When Ed woke up in the morning he was surprised to find that Chucky was no longer on the bed with him, he’d just assumed the doll would spend the night watching over him while he slept, not a thought that bothered him as much as it probably should. It was strangely comforting, he would have adored having something like that as a child, feeling protected and guarded over even if a doll of that size couldn’t exactly keep him from harm.

He got out of bed making his way into the small kitchenette where he started on his morning routine of coffee brewing and wondering if he should eat or just go until midday then eat. Sometimes he forgot to eat all together or just liked to see how far into a day he could get without any food whatsoever, once he managed to go nearly two days, but ended up collapsing at work. 

As the coffee brewed, he went to his dresser getting out clothes for the day, still he hadn’t seen or heard anything from Chucky. He naturally assumed the doll was somewhere in the tiny apartment, hiding or exploring, he wasn’t exactly certain what the robots did when they weren’t entertaining their owners or performing various tasks. 

Once he was dressed, he went to the TV turning it on, he was greeted by a breaking news report. Reporters and camera crews were stationed outside of the big box store where he’d found the Buddi Doll. He sat down on the couch watching the blond-haired reporter who stood before the yellow police tape explaining the events of the night prior. 

“CEO of Kaslin has yet to make a statement on the massacre that took place here last night, we are expecting a statement soon according to a representative. The company sends its condolences to the families affected by this horrible tragedy. For those just tuning into this story, a malfunctioned Buddi doll wreaked havoc on the store you see behind me. The doll belonged to a boy still unnamed, a gift from his mother who worked at the store. Kaslin reports they are looking into what may have happened to cause the malfunction in the doll. Reports have come in that the doll might be responsible for multiple homicides that have taken place in the past week leading up to this event that left over thirty people dead. We’ll report more later when we get more information in.”

They flashed to a fluff piece that Ed had no interest in. He thought about the cop cars that had been in the parking lot, thought about the fire pit nearby, and the fact he had found this doll in the dumpster buried. He told himself it was just coincidence, there was no way that the doll he found was responsible for the massacre, the doll was just a doll. 

The slamming of a door startled him causing him to jump to his feet. He turned the TV off and slowly began looking around him, he still didn’t see Chucky anywhere. 

His heart pounded in his chest as he allowed himself to come to the realization that he owned criminal evidence. In one way or the other he knew that the robotic doll he was in possession of had some involvement with the killings that had taken place. 

“Chucky?” He called out, his voice echoing back at him.

He swallowed hard unnerved by the silence. He slowly began making his way through his apartment checking under the bed to find nothing except his keyboard, in the kitchen cabinets he found nothing besides dishes and food, the bathroom yielded no results either. He ran to the door to ensure it was still locked; the deadbolt was still in place; the door was as secured as it could get so he had no worries that the doll managed to sneak out during the night. 

Ed turned towards the closet, the only place he hadn’t checked yet. He slowly approached it, heart thudding against his chest as he grabbed hold of the handle, he counted to three before jerking the door open to find Chucky sitting at the bottom of the closet wide eyed and with a kitchen knife clutched tightly in his hand. Ed took a step back worried the doll planned on attacking him until he noticed the awkward way it held the knife and the fact that it looked utterly terrified. 

He knelt before the doll; its eyes flashed red as it watched him with heavy caution. Ed held his hand out palm up.

“Chucky, please give me the knife.” He spoke calmly, his voice soft.

‘Edward put the knife down, please. You don’t have to do this; we’ll get you help.’ 

He reached towards the doll, Chucky panicked slicing with the knife, the blade going across Ed’s arm. He hissed pulling his hand back, he looked down at the open wound, blood bubbling to the surface and rolling over his skin. He looked up again to see Chucky watching him, he looked almost sad, eyes now blue again as he dropped the knife to the floor. The doll reached its hand out towards him, Ed stayed still as the doll touched his wounded arm.

“I’m sorry Andy” 

Andy….Andy was the…

He now knew the first name of the boy the news had been talking about. He wondered what happened, he wondered why they hadn’t just shipped this doll back to the manufacturer when they realized it wasn’t working properly. He had a difficult time believing that this doll could cause that much damage, but they could connect to other Kaslin devices including other Buddi dolls. He laughed realizing he didn’t own the exact doll that had started the chaos. Chucky stared up at him brow furrowed.

“I’m sorry Ed, I-I didn’t mean to hurt you. Why are you laughing?”

Even to a doll he knew he looked insane right now. “It’s okay, you’re scared, I understand that. I’m laughing because I’m just piecing some things about you together.” He said as he got to his feet. 

He went to the bathroom; he washed his cut in the sink before disinfecting and bandaging it. It was one of many, just another scar, at least this one wasn’t caused by his own hand. That was some sort of grown and progress he supposed.

‘Your son nearly killed my Jason, he cracked his head with a rock like some sort of….sort of cave person.’

Ed returned to the closet where Chucky still was sitting as if he wasn’t able to move from the spot.

“Are you angry at me?”

“No, I’m not….I thought you didn’t like the closet?”

“I don’t, but I was bad.”

Ed sighed, he reached down picking the doll up. He carried him over to the couch sitting down with the doll settled on his lap. “I told you no closet, I won’t put you in there and you certainly don’t have to hide from me…. Now if I ask you some questions will you tell me the truth?”

Chucky nodded.

“Good…. So, you aren’t…You as you are now, you aren’t the same doll that started all of that?” He asked pointing towards the TV.

Chucky shook his head. “No, I was able to download all information and memories from my original self into other Kaslin toys.”

“The original doll, what happened to him?”

“Andy and the others killed him, me. They smashed me until there wasn’t anything, but pieces then burned the rest. I was able to make it into the dumpster before my system failed.”

He knew it was wrong, but he was impressed by the technology at hand here. He wondered if they’d ever intended for their robots to be so advanced or if this was a fluke caused by a so-called malfunction. 

“Why did you kill all those people?”

The doll’s eyes flashed red. “They were taking Andy away from me, they made him hate me, and he hurt me because of them. I just wanted Andy to be happy and for us to be friends.”

Ed still had questions that he knew the robot couldn’t possibly answer. He didn’t quite understand how it fixated so heavily upon an owner, he knew they were supposed to imprint upon their owner, form a simulated attachment to whoever purchased and activated them, but this was a high level of obsession. The doll killed people because they got close to that kid. Ed imagined his previous assumptions about Andy were correct, he was probably a bit too old to be all that interested in dolls, got bored of him, got friends, and then when Chucky began acting out of the normal…

“What did they do to you?” 

Chucky placed a hand over his own chest clutching at his outfit. “They hit me over the head, they shut me down, I was scared, and people kept opening me up and trying to see what’s wrong with me.”

He felt a shiver go down his spine realizing the doll felt fear or at least a simulated concept of the emotion. He rubbed his hand along the doll’s back in a show of comfort and reassurances, he knew what it was like to have people assume you’re broken, that there’s something inherently wrong with you. 

“I’m sorry” 

“Are we still buddies?”

Ed smiled softly; he wrapped his arm around the doll hugging him close against himself. “Of course, we are, I swear I’m not going to get rid of you, or harm you.” He rested his chin on top of Chucky’s head. “When I was a kid I did some bad things, because people hurt me….I know what you’ve been through, I know how scary it is. I’ll keep you safe though.” He promised.

Chucky clung to him, he felt a nearly paternal protectiveness over the doll. He couldn’t help but believe it wasn’t inherently evil, its actions rooted in fear and misunderstanding and some slight obsessive behavior. He felt he was in no danger, Chucky didn’t seem to pose a threat to him, so there was no reason to scare or harm him.

“Now I have to go to work, I’ll be back this evening…. Will you be okay here alone?”

“I think I will be.”

Ed smiled patting him on the head, he picked him up and set him down on the coffee table. “Excellent, I don’t work tomorrow so we’ll have plenty of time to just hang out.” He said as he got up from the couch.

He could feel the doll watching him as he grabbed his jacket and keys, he turned to see Chucky still sitting on the coffee table watching him. He gave the doll a small wave before heading out of the apartment closing and locking the door behind him. A small part of him did worry about leaving him there alone for most of the day, but he was certain he’d be there when he returned and he highly doubted he could cause much destruction in his time alone.


	5. Chapter 5

Oswald felt woozy, from the pain killers supplied to him by one Edward Nygma, but also from the fact he’d spent days bleeding and starving in the woods. His focus at the moment was on the red headed cherub faced doll that was seated on the foot of the bed watching him with curious wide glowing blue eyes. The doll smiled and Oswald pulled back, it looked familiar, but he wasn’t sure why.

Ed returned to the room carrying a glass of water, he offered it to the man sitting on his bed who shoved the glass away. Ed sighed and sat it down on the nightstand, he then went and sat down next to the doll not even looking at it. Perhaps it wasn’t there, a possible hallucination; after all he was drugged out of his mind. He closed his eyes rubbing at them, when he opened them again the doll was still sitting there watching him as if he were an animal in a zoo. Oswald swallowed hard, he raised his arm and pointed his finger at the doll, Ed furrowed his brow in confusion.

“There…There is a doll sitting there watching me, right?” He asked fully prepared to be informed there was in fact no doll there at all and he might have suffered a breakdown during his time in the woods.

Ed looked down at the doll, he slapped his knee barking out a laugh. “Of course, I am so rude I can’t believe I forgot to introduce you two. Mr. Penguin this is Chucky.” He said looking fondly at the doll who turned its head to look up at him then back towards Oswald.

“Right, it’s um….It’s moving” He pointed out lamely as if Ed wasn’t aware of this.

“Of course, he is, why wouldn’t he be?”

Oswald buried his face in his hands, he took deep slow breaths the way Butch had taught him to do when he was a teenager, he was not going to scream. He lowered his hands, lips pressed into a thin line as he stared at the two at the end of the bed.

“Dolls typically don’t move.”

“Some do, I guess calling him a doll isn’t completely correct. Do you remember the Buddi dolls that were released a few years ago by the Kaslan company?”

Oswald pinched the bridge of his nose; he didn’t want to try and remember the latest technological releases right now, there was a dulled throbbing pain in his shoulder, his mother was dead, and the man who killed her was currently the mayor of the city. He didn’t have time for this.

“Sort of….I guess I remember some of the commercials playing on TV.” He said giving a wave of his hand desperately wanting to express his lack of interest in this.

“Do you remember the recall?”

“Not specifically, no offense, but I’ve had better things to do in the past few years than keep up on the world of toys.” 

Oswald noticed the doll’s eyes change to a red for just a split second before settling back on blue, he chose to ignore it.

He watched as Ed picked the doll up and settled it on his lap holding it as if it were his child, the doll looked content. “Well Chucky here is the reason the recall happened to begin with.”

“What do you mean?”

“The person who owned him before, a teenage boy named Andy, some things went wrong, and Chucky here….Well he went in a bit of a killing spree, dozens killed in a store, more before that.” 

Oswald stared at the doll; he wracked his mind trying to remember these events. He remembered seeing a model like this specific doll in a lot of the commercials, he did recall a mass killing at a mall and there had been a recall. In his current drugged state he wasn’t sure how he felt knowing he was injured, drugged, and in an apartment with a man two years younger than him who just confessed to murder and just told him he was in possession of a small robot responsible for a slight mass murder several years ago.

“Huh…Why, why do you have him?”

“I like to make things, gadgets, weapons….I like to modify computers and the like, I was digging through the dumpster outside of the crime scene the night of the massacre and that’s where I found this little guy, brought him home, and got him fixed as good as new.” He explained seeming quite proud of himself.

Oswald startled when the doll moved from Ed’s lap and began walking towards him. A natural reaction he felt in his gut was to run for the door, but he could hardly feel his legs and he doubted he’d be able to make it to the door without tripping and falling, he refused to look stupid in front of the deranged idiot and his murderous robotic doll. So instead he sat and cautiously watched the doll as it approached him, it held a hand out to him.

“Are you my buddy too?” He asked, a hopefulness to his voice. 

It was startling hearing the doll talk, the voice was so childlike that it made it difficult to picture it committing a mass murder. Even if it sounded like a horror movie monster, he’d still have a hard time imagining something so small killing so many. Oswald took hold of the doll’s hand shaking it.

“Sure, of course I am.” He said, he wasn’t sure if he would be or not, but he felt that saying no would be dangerous.

The doll seemed happy with his response, Chucky sat down on his lap and continued to watch him. It remained like that for the rest of the night as Ed explained his situation, the current situation to his newfound featherless friend he’d found in the woods. By the time that Ed bid good night and announced he would be taking residence on the couch to give his friend the space he needed, Chucky had moved to sit next to him on the bed seeming to have no plans to leave his side.

“Do you sleep by any chance?” Oswald asked as he curled up on his side facing the doll.

“No, not unless I go into sleep mode, but I don’t have to do that very often.”

“Of course.” He said sighing, he wasn’t sure he could sleep with those glowing eyes watching him.

“You don’t plan on hurting Ed, do you?” Chucky asked.

“No, he hasn’t really given me any reason to.” Oswald said glancing towards the couch where the other man was peacefully snoring.

Ed had killed two people apparently, but he seemed relatively harmless. Strange, but harmless.

“Good, his last friend hurt him, I don’t like seeing him sad.”

He wondered if the doll meant the girl, whose name he’d already forgotten despite Ed saying her name at least a dozen times or more over the course of the evening. He looked back to Chucky who still of course was watching him, the doll moved closer to him laying down. Cautiously Oswald wrapped an arm around it holding it close, he remembered the teddy bear he’d had as a little kid that he used to hold every night as he fell asleep. As an adult he felt embarrassed, but after what he’d been through, he could use the small nostalgic comfort.


	6. Chapter 6

The day that Ed had been apprehended by the GCPD in the same woods where he’d buried not just Kristen Kringle’s remains, but also the body of the hunter who stumbled upon his burial grounds was also the day that Oswald was dealing with matters of his own. He hadn’t the slightest clue about Ed’s arrest, not for days. He’d only found out when he heard it on the news one evening, he’d had the thought in the back of his mind to visit him or try to help him out, but the thought went as soon as it had come. It wasn’t until he sat in an empty mansion staring at Grace’s corpse at the other end of the table that he thought of Ed again, mostly because his phone began ringing, Ed’s name appearing on the caller ID.

He downed the remainder of his wine before answering his phone.

“Ed, how lovely to hear from you.” He greeted warmly.

He could sense Ed’s confusion; considering the last time they spoke it had been awkward to say the least. He was surprised Ed was contacting him, the last he’d seen him Oswald had been acting strangely after spending two months being tortured and tested on like a rat in Arkham asylum, the place where Ed was now locked away.

“Are you…Are you okay?” Ed asked.

Oswald reached for the bottle of wine, he refilled his glass and looked up at the dead woman who saw nothing now. He thought over the question knowing perfectly well what he meant, he was the way he’d been before, but he couldn’t say he was happy to be back. He felt hollow and empty, he felt like screaming. Instead he smiled as he leaned back in his chair.

“Yes, I’m not…Everything is back to normal.” He assured him.

Ed sighed in relief. “I need you to do something for me.” Ed whispered.

“A favor?”

“I’ll pay you back, I promise.” He assured him.

Oswald felt admittedly hurt that he felt he’d need to pay him back, he honestly expected nothing of Ed. The realization dawned on him that he was all he had left now.

“What do you need?”

“My old apartment, I need you to break in and find Chucky for me. I don’t think he would have left; I hope they didn’t find him, the Buddi dolls, the model he is…. They’re still not exactly legal to have in possession.” He began rambling, Oswald could tell he was worried.

Oswald had no ill feelings about the robotic toy, after spending an entire month in Ed’s apartment with only the doll to keep him company during the times that Ed was away at work, he’d grown his own sort of bond with it. Of course, it was nothing like that deep bond between Ed and the doll.

“What do you want me to do with him if I find him?”

“Could you keep him with you? I know it’s a lot to ask and after last time we saw each other-“There was a pause and he worried the call had dropped before Ed continued talking. “I’m sorry Oswald, I….I shouldn’t have kicked you out, it was wrong of me, but the way you were acting and I knew if I got caught they’d arrest you too and what they did to you….I’m sorry, I feel like I should have done more.” 

Oswald rubbed his hand over his face, he took in a deep breath willing himself not to cry. He felt all he’d done in the past month was cry, cry and lose the ones he loved. “There’s no need to apologize, I would have kicked myself out.” He said smiling sadly.

“Are you okay?” Ed asked, his voice softer this time.

He shook his head in response as tears rolled down his cheeks. “I’ve been better and I’ve been worse….Look I’ll go get the doll for you and perhaps soon I’ll come visit you in Arkham, I know how lonely it gets there.” 

“Thank you, this means a lot to me.”

“We’re friends, it’s the least I can do for you.”

He ended the call after they exchanged goodbyes. He finished his drink, cleaned up and was out the door in less than an hour. It had felt like a lifetime since he’d been at Ed’s apartment, there was a sense of nostalgia returning there, he almost wished he’d never left, if he hadn’t left then nothing would have changed for better or for worse.

As usual the building felt vacated despite nearly every apartment being occupied. Yellow tape was drawn across Ed’s door, in a couple of minutes he had the lock picked and was inside. The apartment was dark, he doubted the police found much of anything. Everything incriminating that Oswald hadn’t destroyed to keep Ed safe had been out in the woods buried only a few feet under the snow-covered ground. 

Oswald was quiet as he made his way through the apartment not knowing if the doll would still be there. He wondered if it would have left to look for Ed, perhaps the cops had taken it, or perhaps it just ran off. He certainly wouldn’t go beyond Ed’s initial request just to find the doll; he’d buy Ed a dog if he wanted companionship that badly.

After searching cabinets, the bathtub, and under the bed he came up empty handed. The last place he had to look was the closet, he opened the door expecting to find nothing, but instead found Chucky sitting at the bottom of the closet with his hands over his eyes as if trying to hide himself away. Oswald smiled as he looked down at the doll.

“There you are.”

Chucky lowered his hands and stared up at him, eyes glowing in the dark room. “Where’s Ed?” 

“He’s somewhere else, he got arrested.”

The doll tilted its head to the side. “Arrested?”

“The police found out about the people he hurt; they took him away. He called me this evening to ask me to come find you and make sure you’re okay.” 

He knew the doll had the concern that Ed abandoned it, that he’d just grown bored or frustrated with him and no longer wanted to see him. In the time Oswald had known Ed for he knew it would be impossible for him to just grow bored or annoyed with the doll.

“Is he coming back?” 

“Eventually,” Oswald said, “I’m going to do my best to get him out soon, right now though you can stay with me, and when Ed gets out, he’ll come stay with us.” He explained to the doll.

Ed killed multiple people, he killed cops, and attempted to kill another one. His trial hadn’t gone well; the jury ruled him insane and heartless. Oswald knew it would be a long time before he’d be released from Arkham no matter who ran the establishment, Ed was unwell. Still he didn’t deserve to be locked away in that place, Oswald just needed time to get his affairs in order, to work through his own grief and trauma, and then he could work on getting Ed out.

For now, he just had the doll to worry about, the doll who was watching him curiously. Oswald picked him up cradling him against himself the way one might carry a small child. Despite the countless murders committed by the robot, he was in a sense like a child. There were countless words and things he did not know the meaning of, emotions, and actions he didn’t quite understand. Oswald supposed it was good practice just in case the day ever came that he did have a child of his own. 

He exited the apartment without issue, he seated Chucky on the passenger seat in his car. The doll was relatively quiet, occasionally it would mess with the knobs on the radio changing the stations periodically, turning the volume up then back down. Oswald worried the doll wouldn’t be entirely thrilled to stay with him instead of Ed, he wasn’t entirely sure what needed to be done to take care of the doll. He supposed very little, he didn’t recall Ed ever putting much work into owning Chucky, just letting the robot do as he pleased and making sure he never hurt himself. Oswald figured that was easy enough.

Once they were at the mansion, he got out of the car with the doll cradled in his arm. Inside all was the same, the gothic horror scene he’d created in the dining room remained as it had been before he’d abruptly left. Chucky’s eyes flashed red as he fixated on Grace’s corpse. 

“What happened?” Chucky asked, a fascinated tone to his voice as he pointed towards the body.

“She hurt my dad, so I took care of her.” He simply explained.

Deep down he felt he hadn’t hurt her enough for what she did, a part of him wished she’d just killed him too. He still couldn’t erase that night from his mind. He turned away from the body and exited the room, Chucky studied their surroundings seeming fascinated by his new much larger home.

“You live here?”

“We do” Oswald corrected as he made his way up the stairs and towards his bedroom.

He placed the doll down on his bed before going to the door locking it. 

“Why did she hurt your dad?”

Oswald shrugged; he removed his jacket tossing it over the back of a chair. “She just cared about money; she was a bitter horrid woman….It’s my fault more than anything that he’s dead.” He muttered feeling that sickening twist in his stomach again. He lost both parents and at the end of the day it was only himself to blame for it. They’d be alive if it wasn’t for him, he thought to himself.

“I don’t think it’s your fault.” 

He smiled looking towards the doll, Chucky looked concerned as he stared up at him. 

“If he hadn’t found out about me, if I’d….I should have done something.” He said frustrated that he couldn’t even think of a way he could have changed things. 

He flopped down on the bed still half dressed, tired, tipsy, and wishing this was all a horrid dream. He’d love to wake up and realize the past four or five months hadn’t happened, he’d change so much if given the chance. 

Chucky moved to lay by his side, Oswald sighed as he pet his fingers through the doll’s hair.

“It isn’t your fault, you shouldn’t blame yourself for what happened….I’m sorry you lost someone.” 

“Thanks….There isn’t much I can do about it now, I have other matters to attend to.” He said mostly to himself.

If there was one great thing about the presence of the robot it was that he could talk out loud without looking too crazy. He didn’t expect Chucky to understand or respond, he rarely did when Oswald ranted or planned aloud, just watched him as if studying the behaviors of human beings were fascinating to him. Oswald fell asleep not too long after he’d begun planning out loud what he needed to start working on in the morning, Chucky watched over him through the night.


End file.
